A yarn bombing group in Stapleford has spoken out after ‘heartbreaking’ vandalism to a post box topper which 'brightens up' Stapleford's high street. Yarn bombing is a form of art where types of knitted or crocheted art is displayed in the street.
The first knitted item was made by the group in December 2021. They have since created displays for the Queen’s Jubilee, Pride, Remembrance Day, Christmas and most recently 13 post box toppers in the town for World Book Day.
However the group were left ‘disappointed’ after one of their toppers was vandalised and one was stolen. Councillor Sue Paterson, a Stapleford resident and a member who runs Yarn Bombing Stapleford along with three others, said: "We did World Book Day and there were 13 toppers that went out for that.
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"We actually made it into a trail to enter a prize draw, to encourage people to walk around the area and find the post boxes. We don't have many vandalised but when we do it’s really disappointing because a lot of work goes into them and I don’t think people realise, it’s not like a two minute job, there's many hours of work go in to each one.”
The 13 World Book Day toppers went out on February 19 on different post boxes across Stapleford. The ‘Owl Babies’ were placed on Brookhill Street, which was first vandalised on February 27.
The 51-year-old, who represents Stapleford South West for Labour on Broxtowe Borough Council, and who also sits on Stapleford Town Council, continued: "The one on Brookhill Street, which had Owl Babies, I think it was up for just over a week and then one of the owls disappeared. Somebody had pulled one of them off and a few days later the rest of them disappeared. It’s heartbreaking really and heartbreaking for the group.
"Last night we did hear there’s another one that’s actually been completely stolen off Westerlands which is disappointing especially for the kids because they love finding them.“The amount of people that stop us and say ‘they're absolutely wonderful’ or ‘it brightens my day’, we have a lot of feedback on the positivity of it so when we get something vandalised or stolen it’s really disheartening.”
The yarn bombing classes held at the Carnegie Centre are made up of around 50 people each week. They create the toppers in groups and unfortunately for one of the groups named ‘the Seven Musketeers’ the Peter Rabbit topper they did for the Westerlands was stolen on March 7, which was the second topper of theirs that had been stolen.
"We do say we won't be deterred by it," Sue added. "It’s just unfortunate that maybe like Brookhill Street, that's the second one that's disappeared off there, so we do not do particular post boxes sometimes, so it spoils it for that particular area, this one act does.
“It's disappointing when a lot of work has gone into it, so we will carry on. One particular piece, the one that was in Westerlands, the Peter Rabbit, will take several hours to make. Collectively it’s about 25 hours or more, lots and lots of work goes into them, and time and dedication. They think of the ideas and put them together. We will keep carrying on, we might ask the shops in the area to do more of a trial on the high street in the shop windows if that’s something they're willing to do.
“It just spoils it for everybody else, when somebody takes one. Like the trail now there’s two books on there that people can’t find so now they can't enter the drawer because they'll not be able to find where they were. The feedback we have from the area, we have lovely messages when one goes missing. It’s disappointing.”
“We have such a laugh in both groups, we do one on a Monday afternoon and one on Tuesday evenings. It’s such lovely groups, people made friends, friendship groups and especially coming out of the pandemic, it’s brought people back together and we’ve just had a real blast doing them all, it’s just really disappointing when they go missing.”
Councillor Richard MacRae, Independent Councillor for Stapleford North on the borough council, said: “You’ve got the Stapleford Yarn Bombers, it’s a massive group of people that have been knitting for just over a year now. It’s a different form of art, it’s positive and brightens up the high street when you see it out there.
“It’s more than art because it’s getting people out, it’s helping with people who are socially excluded, this includes people. It’s giving people the opportunity to come out and meet new friends, share a skill that they’ve learnt or pass on those skills to other people - it’s just a lovely form of art in Stapleford.
“I think they’re doing a good job. It’s appreciated by lots of people, it’s sad that some people have decided to vandalise some of the stuff which is not fair, it's not right. If you don’t like it, just leave it but I would feel that the majority of people do like it, they do appreciate it. They do a cracking job and don’t let something like that put them off which i’m sure it won’t. It’s just more art in Stapleford.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Over the years we have enjoyed seeing the various postbox toppers that different groups have showcased in local communities across the UK. We appreciate people’s passion for creating these works of art, and value their interest in Royal Mail. We do ask that decorations avoid raising any safety concerns or causing offence, and that toppers do not inadvertently prevent mail from being posted and collected, but we are delighted that they bring pleasure to as many people as they do.”
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